Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart is set to foray into the food delivery segment, with the initial launch planned in Bengaluru, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Restaurant partners cited by the report said the Walmart-owned e-commerce company has already started onboarding eateries across the city. It plans to debut as early as 15 August, around India’s Independence Day weekend.
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According to these people, Flipkart is proposing a commission of 10%.
This is well below the roughly 16% to 30% charged by existing food delivery platforms and is aimed at drawing in restaurant partners.
The new service will be built on the government-backed open network for digital commerce (ONDC).
By using ONDC, Flipkart plans to rely on the open network rather than create its own closed marketplace.
The company had earlier indicated that it would test the offering in a pilot phase before scaling it up across the country.
One of the cited sources has noted that Ashish Vijayvergiya, who was previously the chief of staff to Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, will lead the food delivery mandate.
The development comes shortly after Moneycontrol reported that Rapido’s Ownly service has quickly grown to more than 40,000 daily orders from nearly 25,000 restaurants in Bengaluru.
Ownly is estimated to have secured around 7%–10% of the city’s food delivery market within a few months.
Flipkart appears to be adopting a similar low-cost approach by positioning itself as a cheaper option for restaurants, although it is not removing commissions altogether.
The rollout is initially expected to be confined to Bengaluru, with plans to move into other cities later. Flipkart’s food delivery service will be offered on its main app and through a separate, dedicated food delivery application.
